Over the years, the word ‘humility’ has been added to my
ever so limited vocabulary. To my current understanding it is a quality of
being humble, which in turn means neither proud nor arrogant. The issue I seem
to come across a lot is the problem of defining one’s self as ‘humble’. The common
phrase that follows after describing yourself in that light is: ‘how can a
humble person say they are humble?’. Sorry? Since when was it abominable for
someone to believe that they are well and truly humble?
Please correct me if I’m wrong but my logic only stretches
to the understanding that the tone in which something is said determines what
is meant. Don’t get me wrong, some may say that they are humble but their
actions and their choice of words prove otherwise. My issue is however, if someone
possesses the traits of humility, when asked they describe themselves as
humble, they automatically are no longer humble?
To me words are toys, they can be played with to portray the
mind of the speaker or writer. A lay man on the street would be able to
acknowledge someone boasting and being arrogant as opposed to a person who truly
believes they are humble. The same way lego can be put together to build a
build a miniature house, pulled apart and put together again to form a car so
words can be transformed to mean different things. Personally, I believe that
the word ‘humility’ has been over-sensitised. We have made the word more than
it is. Simply, as the dictionary states, it means that someone is neither proud
nor arrogant.
I seem to believe that anyone who honestly believes they are
humble should be free to use the term without being crucified for their beliefs
of who they are. Its just the same for someone who believes that they are
generally a happy person, it cannot be said that only an outsider can tell them
such. If they believe that about themselves then so be it.
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